The format of the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments this weekend in Cape Town is unlike anything you have ever seen before. The format of the tournament is "single elimination" unlike most other Rugby Sevens tournaments that include pool play, where you can lose one or two matches and still go on to win the tournament.
For example, the Australian women's team was eliminated after losing to Fiji in pool play during the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and then went on to defeat the New Zealand women's team in the semifinals and defeated the Fiji women's team in the finals. However, if you stumble once in Cape Town the opportunity to be the champion is lost forever.
Also, this is a very short tournament and to be a champion the men and women will each play a total of four matches: a Round of 16 match on Day 1, a Quarterfinal on Day 2, and Semifinal and Final on Day 3. Thus, the format will favoring the possibility of an upset.
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Men's Rugby World Cup Sevens Preview
The men's Rugby World Cup Seven's tournament is extremely competitive with Fiji, South Africa, and New Zealand leading the way as favourites.
The tournament will begin with a “pre-round” of eight matches, pitting team’s such as Jamaica, Korea, Germany and Zimbabwe against one another for an opportunity to join seed's South Africa, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, England, France, the USA, and Argentina in the single-elimination round of 16 on day one of the tournament. Three factors to consider in predicting the winner of Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 are the following three.
The South Africans will have home-field advantage and the motivation of potentially playing in front of 50,000 fans may further inspire them. South Africa recently defeated Fiji 31-7 in the Gold Medal Match at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games; therefore, it would seem like South Africa has solid momentum entering this year's Rugby World Cup Sevens.
Last week, New Zealand defeated Fiji in the final of the Los Angeles Sevens, but New Zealand lost four players due to injury during that tournament. Furthermore, New Zealand has rested three of their veteran players (Sam Dickson, Scott Curry and Dylan Collier) from the Los Angeles Sevens; therefore, they will be well-rested and ready to go for the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town.
Top Contenders to Win
Fiji is favoured to win the Rugby World Cup Sevens.
With the Rugby World Cup Sevens fast approaching in San Francisco, Fiji has picked up their game over the last few tournaments; winning five of the last seven and finishing third in the other two. Last year they only won one event during the season, while finishing second in three other tournaments. For the most part, they have also had strong results in North America as they have recorded two wins out of six tournaments and have reached at least the semifinals five out of six.
Even with a strong recent performance, Fiji still sits just two points behind South Africa in the overall points standings therefore finishing second seeded for this year’s Rugby World Cup. They have established themselves as one of the premier sevens teams in the world winning two Melrose Cups and finishing among the top four teams at all of the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments, with the exception of one. In addition, they were the first country to win the Olympic gold medal for rugby 7s at the Rio Olympics.
Are South Africa's Top Seed Chances Good Enough To Bet On?
Starting with 2012, South Africa has been one of the top-three consistent sevens teams in the world, finishing second and third at the end of the last two seasons in a row, and going on to win the last two seasons (the latest as of the writing of this article) - South Africa finished 3rd or better in 23 of the last thirty tournaments (they have podium finishes eight times and won the most recent World Series as held in Paris last June).
RWC Sevens have not been too good for South Africa historically, however. They have only made it to the final in 1 RWC and have only beaten Fiji in 24-21 (their RWC history dates back to 1993). In the other five RWC events, South Africa finished 5th. South Africa could become the first-ever to win a Melrose Cup, may have a potential for greater than ++ 250 opportunity in San Francisco given how often they have consistently disappointed on the big stage.
Will England Ever Win?
England won the inaugural Melrose Cup in 1993 but has since only made the finals once, finishing second to New Zealand by a score of 33-0 at the last RWC 7's tournament in 2013. England has finished in second place four times in the last 19 years of RWC 7's no other nation has done this before becoming champions of the overall sevens. In addition to only having two tournament victories so far in the last nineteen RWC 7's events, England finished fifth during the fourteen competitions held throughout this past season.
Dan Norton, England's captain, holds the all-time record for most tries scored in rugby sevens at 299 with 38 tries scored so far during the current season. Great Britain's 2016 Olympic Rugby team finished second and comprised players from all four countries United Kingdom (England/Scotland/Wales); there are currently 12 total team members (eight because they are currently playing for England). With +1800 odds, if England can find a way to bring it all together, it will be a huge payout for anyone who takes a chance on them.
